Jeannette Burke is like many other full-time college students.She takes the same classes, drives down the same tree-lined street to campus, studies for the same hard exams, sees the same faces, makes the same kind of friends, loves the same professors and hates the same Nicholls taboos: parking and the Office of Financial Aid.
But one thing about Burke sets her apart from most of the other 6500 students at Nicholls. She’s been here before-20 years ago.
“I graduated in 1990 with an associate’s degree in fashion merchandising in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences,” Burke said. “They don’t even offer that degree anymore.”
After graduating, Burke got married, had her only son and began working at the Sam’s Club as an optical manager. But in 2000, Burke did some rearranging in her life, something she felt she needed after divorcing her first husband, remarrying and acquiring two step-children.
“I think it was just unfinished business. I always said I was going to come and get my bachelor’s degree, and time was sort of ticking,” Burke said. “I just decided the time was right. If I didn’t do it then, it would always be hard, and there would always be something standing in the way.”
In the fall of 2008, Burke said she took a leap of faith and registered for one class-history. After doing well with it, she quit her job at the Sam’s Club to go to school full-time, a decision she admits was a “risky move.”
The next semester, Burke took 15 hours and managed to make the Dean’s List, maintaining a 3.0 to a 3.5 grade point average-an honor she had not been able to achieve in all her previous years at the University.
Finally, in her next semester, Burke held a 21-hour workload and made the President’s List, maintaining a 3.5 to a 4.0 grade point average.
Aside from taking classes full-time, Burke joined the Nicholls Players, the University’s theater group. Because acting had always been a passion of hers, she auditioned for a play in the spring of 2009 and has “never looked back since,” she said.
“It was a wonderful experience; I can’t wait to do the next play,” Burke said. “I think when you get active in things, it takes school to the next level, and it makes it seem more than just one-dimensional. When I’m on campus, I feel the pulse, the rhythm, the excitement, and it kind of becomes your home away from home.”
Involvement in campus organizations was new for Burke, who had chosen not to get involved her first time at the University. At that time, her focus was different. She was young and her family did not encourage socialization as much, she said.
“When you go back with hindsight, I think you’re a little wiser,” Burke said. “I decided I wanted the entire college experience all over again. That’s when I joined the Nicholls Players, did some acting and went to Europe over the summer. I did it all over again, and this time I did it right.”
In addition to taking classes and staying involved on campus, Burke has also been working for about a year as a part-time substitute teacher for the Terrebonne Parish School Board on days she does not have classes. Yet, despite all her responsibilities, Burke’s family has been especially cooperative, she said.
“They were extremely supportive, and I don’t think I could have done it without them,” Burke said. “They had to fend for themselves quite a bit in spite of me, but they’ve been awesome.”
In addition to having to spend time away from her family, which has required much time management, Burke said technology was the biggest obstacle she had to overcome in returning to school.
“When I first came to school, I didn’t have YouTube and PowerPoint presentations. The whole way of how we do business at school is extremely different,” Burke said. “I was so technically-challenged. I remember people kept talking about Blackboard, and I kept looking around for a black board. I finally asked someone where this black board was, and they looked at me like I had four heads.”
Having time to adjust, Burke said she tries to blend in with everyone else around her.
“Sometimes I forget I’m 40 and everyone else is 20 because they don’t treat me differently. And other times I’m referred to as ‘Mrs. Jeannette,’ and my teachers are more lenient to work with me on assignments,” Burke said. “I like to think it’s because I’m a studious student and not because I’m an old lady.”
Even though she is older than most of her peers, Burke said she has learned just as much from them as she has learned from her professors.
“I remember sitting in class the first day in fall 2008, thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m sitting in a class with kids that can be my children’s age. What can I learn from these kids? This is such as waste of time’,” Burke said. “Now I sit in class and think, ‘they’re absolutely brilliant, they’re such impressive young people and I’ve learned so much from them about myself and about life’.”
With this knowledge, Burke plans to graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in general studies and a minor in humanities. From there, she plans to become a career counselor for seniors graduating Blue Cliff College in Houma, aiding students in finding jobs after graduation.
“The things I’ve learned since I’ve been back at school have really helped me,” Burke said. “I’ve had some public speaking, some public relations, some sociology, understanding how people work and how they tolerate and don’t tolerate diversity. The classes I’ve had will be essential in this position.”
With graduation only months away, Burke said she has had a lot of time to reflect on her experience in college her second time around.
“I have a new respect for myself, what I can do and how much I can do,” Burke said. “I don’t think of myself as a weak person, but I never thought I could go back to school, do as well as I’ve done, still have a great family life, be active in my community and keep a part-time job. I’m feeling very much like wonder woman at times. It’s been empowering.
